Apple’s iOS 6.1 Sees 22% Adoption in Less Than Two Weeks

After it was released last Monday, iOS 6.1 is already being used by almost 22 percent of users, as monitored by a Web content firm. This sets up Apple’s latest mobile operating system update to be the most quickly adopted by the longest mile.

Strong Adoption Rate for Apple’s iOS 6.1

Based on data collected by Web content creation company Onswipe, Apple’s iOS 6.1 has been adopted by 21.81 percent of iOS users as of 3:00 PM EST last Wednesday. There are about 13 million users observed from sites using the firm’s technology.

This only shows that adoption rate for Apple’s latest mobile OS has been strong. From 11.35 percent, it increased to 16.92 percent within the first 24 hours of availability. As Darrell Etherington of TechCrunch reported:

Consider that when Apple released its iOS 6 update, it took a week for 44.58 percent of users to get on board. iOS 6.1 is growing at a faster rate, and looks to be on track to top that should its momentum continue.

Onswipe also pointed out that the iOS 6.1 took an entire week to penetrate 44.58 percent of the installed user base. According to the firm’s CEO, Jason Baptiste, the spike in adoption can be attributed to customer familiarity with Apple’s over-the-air update system, which was first used during the release of iOS 5 in 2011. Etherington added:

The fact that users are comfortable enough with the OTA update mechanism to upgrade almost immediately is great news for developers, both of native apps and of web-based mobile-friendly platforms like Onswipe’s since it means that they can create experiences that will be the same for a large number of customers at once.

The over all 21.81 percent adoption factors in all iOS devices, which include the iPod Touch. Breaking down the update based on device, 23.92 percent of it is accounted for iPhone users and 20.90 percent of it is from iPad users.

In relation to this, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Philip Schiller noted that the iOS 6 is running on 300 million iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch after being available for just five months. He even added that “It may be the most popular new version of an iOS in history.”

Last Wednesday’s report goes in line with the data gathered by other companies like Chitika. The firm estimated that iOS 6 saw 15 percent of adoption rate after 24 hours, although it took more than a month to surpass 60 percent.